Brake-hanger mechanism



E. POSSON. BRAKE HANGER MECHANISM. APPLICATION 'm-in JCT-16.1917;

1,364,642. Patented Jan. 4,1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET l- Y VZZMJJ." 17,21)??? Z2 7 Ed /w. razfimya 7L J E.POSSON.

BRAKE HANGER MECHANISM.

. I APPLICATION FILED OCT- 16, I917- 1,364,642. Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

2 SHEEN-SHEET 2.

%B& Zdzua raiz aairan/ Z7230 enZa w;

UNITED STATES EDWARD POSSON, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BRAKE-HANGER MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 4, 192-1.

Original application filed. March 17, 1917, Serial No. 155,415. Dividedand this application filed October To all to hem it may concern Be itknown that I, EDWARD PossoN, a citizen of the United States, residing atChicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and use- 'provide improved means for hanging and mountingthe brake-shoes on the truck of a railway car, and in particular toprovide a form of construction which may be used efliciently inconnection with the clasp brake described in my prior application, abovereferred to. Another important object is to provide brake-hangermechanism which will occupy the minimum amount of space and permit theconvenient use of the invention in connection with modern passenger cartrucks, for instance, in which the space for the brake-beams andbrake-shoes between the ends of the truck is extremely limited. Stillanother feature is to provide means for pivotally supporting thebrake-beams on the hangers in combination with means for maintaining thebrake-shoes in the proper operative positions with respect to thebrakebeams. Another object is to provide means for securely holding thebrake-hangers and brakeshoes on the brake'beams while permitting theready removal thereof when desired. A further feature is the provisionof means for resiliently supporting the lower parts of the brake-shoesto prevent the swinging thereof away from the peripheries of the carwheels. Other objects relate to various features of construction andarrangement which will appear more clearly hereinafter.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the followingspecification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich one embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

In the drawings Figure 1 shows an enlarged side elevation of a portionof a car truck illustrating the application of my invention thereto;

Fig. 2 shows a vertical section through a Serial No. 196,831.

brake-hanger illustrating the connection of the brake-shoe with thebrake-beam;

. Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of abrakehanger bracket;

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of the brake-head adjusting connector;

Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of the brake-head adjusting spring andbracket;

Fig. 6 shows a side elevation of a portion of a brake-beam;

F g. 7 shows an end elevation thereof;

Fig.8 shows a top plan view of a portion of the brake-beam;

Fig. 9 shows a perspective view of one of the brake-hangers, and

Fig. 10 shows a perspective view of a brake-beam key.

In the drawings, the invention is illustrated as applied to a car truckdesignated generally by the numeral 10 and having a wooden frame. Thistruck comprises the side frame members 11, upon which are mounted thelever-carrying brackets 12 lo cated above the axles 13 of the car wheels14. These brackets serve to support the brake mechanism which comprisesone or more suspending links 15 pivotally connected to the brackets 12by means of bolts 16, and pivotally connected at their lower ends to thelever carrier 17 by means ofpins 18. The lever carrier 17 is pivotallyconnected at the point 19 to a truck lever 20, the upper end of which ispivotally connected to a brake-rod 21. The side frames of the truck haveprojecting downwardly therefrom the arms 22, which are connected by pins23 with the spring plank hangers or brackets 24. These brackets carryshoes 24 upon which the spring-planks 25 are mounted. The springs 26 aremounted on the springplank 25 according to the modern method of carconstruction. The foregoing features are described more fully in myprior application, above referred to, and are illustrated here for thepurpose of showing the application of the particular invention to whichthe present application is confined. It will be understoodthat myimproved brake-hanger mechanism may be used in connection with variousforms of car trucks or brake operating devices.

At each side of the car a hanger bracket 30 is secured to the transverseframe members 31 of the car truck by means of bolts 32, and in theinstance shown in Fig. 1, the bracket is directed downwardly, theparallel ears 31 at the lower end thereof being apertured and pivotallyconnected to the brakehanger 33, illustrated particularly in Fig. 9. Thelower end of the brake-hanger 33 is provided with a cylindrical bearingportion an adapted to be rotatably engaged by the cylindrical part 35 ofthe brake-beam 36. The central part of the brake-beam has a rectangularcross-section, as illustrated particularly in Figs. 6, 7, and 8, andeach brake-beam carries at its opposite ends a cylindrical part 35,which terminates in a part 37 of reduced diameter having an annulargroove 33 formed therein adjacent its extremity. The part 34 of thebrake-hanger rotatably engages the part 35 of the brakebeam, and thus afree movement of the brake-beam toward or away from the car wheel ispermitted, and this movement is effected through the brake-levermechanism, previouslydescribed. Each truck lever 20 is connected to theadjacent brake-beam 36 by means of a truck lever connector 10 having anenlarged bearing member 10 at one end thereof mounted on the cylindricalpor tion 35 of the brake-beam, and having apertures 40 at the other end,by means of which a pivotal connection is made with the truck lever 20.By providing a plurality of apertures 10, it is possible to change theconnection on the truck levers in order to vary the position and thepath of travel of the brake-shoe and brake-beam. The part 35 of thebrake-beam is provided with a keyway 35, which permits a rigidconnection with the member 40, and this keyway also serves to permit theformation of a fixed connection between the brake-beam and the bracketll, which is mounted on the part 35 and which carries the brake-headadjusting spring 42. This spring is mounted between t e downwardlydirected ears 41 of the bracket and is secured thereto by means ofrivet-s 43. The brake-head 45, carrying the brake-shoe 46, is rotatablymounted on the reduced end portion 3'? of the brake-beam and abutsagainst the shoulder 37 formed by the end of the part 35. The brake-headis maintained on the brake-beam by means of a brake-beam key 47 havingthe form illustrated particularly in Fig. 10. This key has a U-shapedslot 47, the walls of which are adapted to fit into the annular groove38, formed in the end of the brake-beam. The key is further providedwith an upward extension lr having an aperture 4" therein, by means ofwhich the key is secured to the fiange 45 of the brake-head by means ofthe pin 48. In this way, the brake-head is securedly fixed on the end ofthe brake-beam without the use of nuts or other similar fas- .te nngdevices, and the brake-shoes are maintained in the proper positions onthe brakeother end to the flange eff of the brake-head by means of a pin50. This connecting device serves to maintain the lower end of thebrake-shoe in contact with the car wheel when the brake-shoes are movedinto operative positions, and at the same time the spring 42 permits thenecessary adjustment of the brake-shoe to the periphery of the carwheel. It will be apparent that by means of this simple construction,the brake-hanger mechanism is mounted on the truck while occupying onlya limited space, and at the same time the necessary free movement of thebrake-beam is permitted.

Although I have shown and described a particular embodiment of theinvention for purposes of illustration, ,it may be understood that itmay be constructed in various other forms without departing from thespirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a railway car, a car truck, a brake beam suspended from saidtruck, a brake shoe pivotally mounted on said brake beam, a fiat springfixed on said brake beam and extending radially therefrom, and means forconnecting said spring to said brake shoe.

2. In a railway car, a car truck, a brake beam carried by said truck, abrake shoe pivotally mounted on said brake beam, a resilient membernon-rotatively mounted on said brake beam at one side of said brake shoeand extending radially from said brake beam, and means connecting saidmember to said brake shoe.

3. In a railway ear, a car truck, a brake beam carried by said truck, abrake shoe pivotally mounted on the end of said brake beam, the end ofsaid brake beam being provided with an annular groove, a locking platesecured to said shoe and engaging said annular groove, and means formaintaining said brake shoe in proper position with respect to a wheelof said truck.

4. In a railway car, a car truck, a brakehanger suspended from saidtruck, a brakebeam having a cylindrical portion rotatably engaging saidbrakehanger, brake operating mechanism comprising a member non-rotatablymounted on said cylindrical portion, a brake-shoe pivotally mounted onsaid cylindrical portion, and means non-rotatably engaging saidcylindrical portion and connected to said brake-shoe for maintaining thelatter in proper position with respect to a wheel of said truck.

5. In a railway car, a car truck, a brakebeam suspended from the frameof said truck, means for moving sa1d brake-beam toward and away from awheel of said truck, a brake-shoe pivotally mounted on said brake-beam,a bracket member fixed on said brake-beam adjacent said shoe, a springmember secured to said bracket member and extending downwardlytherefrom, and means pivotally connecting the lower ends of said springmember with the lower part of said brake-shoe.

6. In a railway car, a car truck, a brakebeam suspended from said truckbrake operating mechanism comprising a member non-rotatably mounted onsaid brake-beam adjacent said brake-hanger, a brake-shoe mountedadjacent the end of said brakebeam, said brake-beam having an annulargroove in the end thereof, and a key engaging said groove.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

EDWARD POSSON.

